Force full screen for mobile websites?

Question

Is it ok to force full screen for mobile websites to make them seem more like native mobile apps?

• jQuery: http://sindresorhus.com/screenfull.js/
• iOS 7.1 minimal-ui: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7424814

Thinking that this in combination with How usable are bars that disappear / reappear on scroll? could really help free up real-estate. Should probably provide some sort of "easy exit arrow" at the top right corner though.

On the downside, doing this without the user's permission might be a no-no. Likewise, asking the user for permission via some popup might be too spammy.

What y'all think?

Answer 1

In my opinion, it may depend on the role of the app (e.g. how important it is to the user),
its users (e.g. how likely are they to click outside the app by mistake)
and it definitely depends on whether the user has given permission to the site to act like this or not.